El viaje

After a short and rainy night we got greeted by a curious bat who found me just as interesting as i her or him.

5 minutes from the strange hotel is Playa Caletas, which we found completely deserted. Lu went jogging, me hunting for beach curiosities.

The first thing you notice is that this definitely is a beach frequently visited by the ancients. Sadly some of their nests do get ravaged from time to time.

What i did not know is that crabs eat their eggs as well. I could not get a pic of the one that escaped when i got closer. But he was hiding and eating in this hole.

That did not matter because while checking out the gentle smooth edges of the abundant drift wood ,

i found two of these beauties hiding below it.

I also noticed shrooms on the wood, some common ones

and some that i have never seen before.

I was not the only one checking out the drift wood. I did not know that hermits nibble on wet wood.

The right side of the coast was much rockier the left , which makes it an excellent habitat for lobsters and langoustines but an even better hunting ground for octopus. I am convinced that this is the result of both sharing the same space.

There was also tons of shells which i had never seen before, naturally i went bonky.

Here the highlights:

There was also some extremely nice stones to be found.

I met Lu again and we checked out cloud formations together,

while i was telling her she was mad to go jogging in the sun, and she telling me that i should not say anything because in had just taken pictures of wet wood for 30 minutes.

Choose your poison.

One of the poisons that we share is exploring and the mission was to circle the Nicoya peninsula on the coast. So around noon we left the beach. Some of the usual suspects on the way.

The very friendly farmer in the back in the picture warned us of the flooded roads ahead.

We did not exactly follow his advice and tried anyway….

And got stuck

again

and again

We had to turn around each time, a couple of times. Eventually we had to admit to ourselves that we just could not do this route without and amphibious vehicle. So 2 hours back the same way we came from called for a well deserved snack.

We were practically forced off the peninsula. The quickest way to do so is by ferry to Puntarenas which we did not have a ticket for.

The next ferry was 3 hours later. We used the time to change the spark plugs of Jim at this mechanic

and got the ferry at six o clock without waiting times or hussle.

We welcomed the well deserved break by having a couple of beers , and a couple of gin tonics on the ferry, talking to Janine and Fabi in labor and marveling at the unloading storm above us.

Puntarenas we did not see much of. Because by the time we arrived there it was dark and raining cats and dogs.

It did not matter much because we did not want to stay anyhows. Puntarenas is a hub for shark finning companies from China and Taiwan who basically build the place up. It is also the harbour from which the liver boards to the legendary Coco Islands leave.

Surrounded by deep waters with counter-currents, Cocos Island is admired by scuba divers for its massive population of hammerhead sharks, rays, dolphins and other large marine species. The wet climate and oceanic qualities give Cocos an ecological character that is not shared with either the Galápagos Archipelago or any of the other islands (for example, Malpelo, Gorgona or Coiba) in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Because of the unique ecology of the island and its surrounding waters, Cocos Island National Park became a UNESCOWorld Heritage Site in 1997. The island can only be reached by sea, which usually takes 36 to 48 hours.

I will be back for Cocos but armed with my underwater camera and more time.

So another our south to our destination Playa Hermosa just south of Jaco.

Drinks at home for having survived and good night !